Andrew Sorensen: The concert programmer

Andrew produces music from code. He does what he calls "live coding concerts" at nightclubs and electronic music festivals, but more traditionally live coding to make music is done in acoustic scenarios.

For the OSCON audience, Andrew gives a live demo of a live coding musical concert. He begins by programming a piano, what the left hand would do and what the right hand would do. He adds a kickdrum, a synthesizer, bass notes, and finally a high hat. He gives these instruments parameters and alters factors like duration, volume, and harmonic scale—with code.

To break it back down to where he started the concert, with the first instrument (a piano) on a short loop, Andrew reduces speed and removes instruments one by one. The audience gets to hear the whole thing come apart, layer by layer. Wild applause.

Frank Willison Award for contributions to the Python community

This year's award was presented to Barry Warsaw, a Python core developer since 1995, who has contributed to the Mailman list manager and many other efforts in the Python and open source communities.

Beth Flanagan, from Intel, talked about vulnerability in devices. Not just any devices, she focused on security within the embedded space. Flanagan posed, "What happens when we have to deal with something like Heartbleed with embedded devices?" The response: The way we think about embedded (as non-connected rarely updated devices) needs to change.

Flanagan is more terrified of implantables than anything in the Internet of Things. She referrenced Karen Sandler's extensive details on this topic. "If Heartbleed showed us anything, it exposed how underfunded some of the critical parts of the open source and Linux ecosystem are," said Flanagan. Always consider security and contribute to the open source ecosystem.

Ryan's friends began developing a keyboard in the open for people with repetative strain injuries. The keyboard they created can be seen at Keyboard.io (and was at the Expo at OSCON 2014). Then, once they had the keyboard designed, they needed to manufacture it. That's where things got really complicated. How do we manufacture in the open?

Telsa has been in the press lately for opening their patents, but how are they opening them up?

Takeaway: Demand openness in the projects you fund and support. And, build in the open.

Rachel Nabors: Storytelling on the shoulders of giants

Rachel Nabors has been telling stories through comics for years. She talked about the idea of an infinite canvas and how she uses jQuery and CSS to create digital animations. More importantly, Nabors mentions that artist wish they could code like programmers and how important it is to collaboration. And, how coders may wish they could draw like artists.

So, seek out people who have mastered your trade and collaborate with them. Like so many of us, Nabors stands on someone else's shoulders. Her storytelling is your storytelling. "I’m telling stories because you help me to," Nabors said.

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